Nokia Lumia 800 sold out in U.K. despite rumors of weak demand

Nokia’s stock took a hit this week as Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette cut his sales forecast for Nokia’s first two Microsoft-powered smartphones. Having initially estimated that fourth-quarter sales of Nokia’s Windows Phones would approach 2 million units, the analyst dropped his expectations to just 500,000 devices, saying early checks indicated lower than expected sell-through. Bernstein Research analyst Pierre Ferragu piled on, writing in a note this week that Nokia’s new phones offer no “breakthrough innovation” or price advantage that might draw attention away from the competition. Just one day after Faucette shared his new estimates, however, Nokia confirmed that its hotly anticipated Lumia 800 smartphone has been a big seller across the United Kingdom. Read on for more.

“Lumia 800 sales in the U.K. are off to an excellent start,” Nokia said in a statement. “Based on earliest data the sales start of the Lumia 800 is the best ever first week of Nokia smartphone sales in the U.K. in recent history. By our measures, we have gained significant smartphone sell-out share in the channels in which we are operating in the U.K.”

Nokia did not elaborate or offer specific sales figures, but the U.K. has been a huge market for the Finnish phone vendor in the past. Having launched a number of highly anticipated devices in the region over the years, the company’s “best ever first week” is likely nothing to scoff at. “While it is not our policy to disclose individual product sales figures outside our quarterly financial results, we feel there has been premature sales analysis on the performance of the Lumia 800,” Nokia added, alluding to comments from analysts like Faucette and Ferragu, who may have written off the company’s new handsets prematurely.

BGR reviewed the Nokia Lumia 800 earlier this week and found it to be a fantastic start for Nokia as it attempts to reinvent itself as a hardware and service provider. We also had positive things to say about the Lumia 710 when we looked at it last month, calling it an entry-level smartphone that would likely fare well.

Nokia launched the Lumia 800 last week in initial markets, and it will not become available in the United States until some time next year. It is unclear whether or not the Lumia 710 will launch in the U.S.